Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Apologies to overseas readers, but it's going to be hard for Americans to focus on the usual core issues around here for the next while, as the Tea Party Republicans seem determined to further substantially weaken the United States, by making the continuation of the budget contingent on unacceptably extreme and unconditional demands at the federal level, even though they only control one of the three branches. This comes to a head in the next two weeks but it's very hard to imagine the current configuration in DC avoiding a massive fustercluck and very hard to see what comes after.

Meanwhile the attack on unions at the state level is absolutely unconscionable. I don't think I've ever had as much sympathy for unions in my life as I do right now. Many professionals and academics are feeling that way right now, but that is not enough.

Do you suppose the deep red staters will wake up to who is really causing their misery? I suppose that is wishful thinking. Failing that it is very difficult to see how we avoid a horrible mess in the very near future.

Sadly I think the Republicans and Tea Party types in Congress are just crazy enough to force a government shutdown over funding for the EPA and public broadcasting, among other things. Of course as someone who has become reliant on my social security survivor's benefits to keep my house since my wife died, they can be assured that I will never, ever, ever vote Republican for any single office for the rest of my life.

Oale, no need to apologize for your media. It is hardly better over here.

For most people this will be a bolt from the blue, and (mark my words if you want, this isn't a very high risk prediction) the dominant media will be very careful to play it so that it will be easy to construe it as Obama's fault.

In it, Walker proposes that the right to collectively bargain be taken away from most -- but not all -- state and local workers. Who's left out? "Local law enforcement and fire employees, and state troopers and inspectors would be exempt from these changes." As Harold Meyerson notes, these are also the unions that happened to be more supportive of Walker in the last election. Funny, that.